We are so excited about this month’s Member Make challenge! A few people requested that we make crepe paper lilac flowers. So that’s what we will be crafting live today at 11:00 a.m. PT. If you want to join the live workshop and craft along with us, make sure to join our crafting community!
Because this flower is a bit more complex, we sent our members the tools, materials, and flower pattern ahead of time. They are also listed below. If you can’t join our live workshop this morning, we will post the video below later today so you can watch it on your own time.
Ready to get started? Just scroll on down to see what you need for this month’s DIY challenge.
Lovely Lilacs
We can’t wait to show you how to make these crepe paper lilac flowers today! Overall, they are an easy paper flower to make. But there are lots of little flowers involved so it’s pretty time-consuming.
Since there are so many flowers to form, a cutting machine will come in handy if you have one! For this project, we cut our crepe paper with our Cricut Maker and SVG file. But of course, you can also cut your lilacs by hand with our PDF flower template.
When you’re ready to make your flower, just follow the steps below. We will keep the video up indefinitely, so you can watch it as many times as you need to while crafting your crepe paper lilac flowers. And, of course, reach out to us if you have any questions.
Happy crafting, friends!
How to Join Our May Member Make Challenge
- Become a member. And make sure to join our Facebook page for members!
- Gather the craft tools and materials you need for these crepe paper lilac flowers—listed below. Then download our flower pattern at the end of this post. Those of you with a Cricut Maker can use the flower SVG file.
- Tune in today at 11:00 a.m. PST to craft with me live on our YouTube channel. You can find the link to the YouTube Live tutorial on the Facebook page for members and in your email. It will also be available for playback here.
- Watch our flower video tutorial to craft along with me and create your own version of this lilac. Feel free to use different colors, materials, or techniques; make just one bloom or a whole bunch of them, integrate them into another DIY project, and so on.
- Reach out to me and others in our crafting community if you need some support! You can post progress pictures or ask questions on our Facebook page for members. And make sure to use the hashtag #MemberMake so it’s easy to find!
- Share your finished crepe paper lilac flowers with us by the end of the month to be entered in our giveaway. Make sure to post your pictures on our Facebook page for members or on your Instagram page with the hashtag #MemberMake. And feel free to say something about your flower-making experience!
Tools
- Cricut Maker or Craft Scissors
- Detail Scissors
- Curling Tool
- Needle-Nose Pliers/Wire Cutters
- Paintbrush
Materials
- Lia Griffith Extra-Fine Crepe Paper — Secret Garden: Lilac, Cypress, Vanilla, and Linen
- Floral Tape — Fern & Moss
- Thick Paper-Covered Stem Wire
- 18-Gauge Green Paper-Covered Wire
- 24-Gauge Green Paper-Covered Wire
- Aleene’s Turbo Tacky Glue
- Mod Podge
- Design Master Tint IT Spray — Plum and Pinkolicious
How to Make Crepe Paper Lilac Flowers
Become a Member to unlock this project
Are you having trouble? Feel free to contact us and we will be happy to help you out.
57 Comments
Thank you so much!
You are welcome!
Hi, I can’t get the video to show up. I tried to look under the Members Make tab but I didn’t see this flower on there. Do the videos expire after a certain period of time? thank you!
Hmmm. That is interesting. I see the video under the lost of tools and materials. You can also view it on YouTube. Here is a link for that. https://youtu.be/suH9k3LHKj8
Could you tell me what size these come out to be! Thank you!
There are about 6 inches of the flowering stem. You can get an idea of the size from the photo with the hand holding a stem. Hope that helps.
Hi! I absolutely loved making this lilac, thank you so much! I was wondering if there’s a better way to apply the paint though. I’ve tried several ways but I can’t stop the paint from getting on the individual stems! Then after so much ch time and effort, the paint is kind of ruining my finished product. ☹️ Is there something I’m missing or doing wrong? Thanks!
One of the things that we liked about the Design Master tint spray paint is that it would darken the crepe so the green stems would not lighten. When you spray the opaque paint, it will, unfortunately, change the color of the stems. See if you can cover the stems with paper or mask it with painter’s tape.
These are beautiful. I am looking for inspiration to create stock stems and ran across this. I think by changing the tip of the stem to start with a cluster of buds before the flowers begin, it could be easily transformed into stock. Or, could work in my arrangement as is, just at the proper scale. Simply gorgeous.
Thanks! Maybe we can add Stock flowers to our list. 🙂
Thank you! I was trying to reply to your reply but for some reason was unable to.
You are so welcome!
I can’t find the Tint IT spray anywhere. Everywhere I look the plum and pinkolicious are out of stock. When do you recommend as as substitute?
It seems they are out of stock on many colors. We are recommending the Liquetex brand paint as a backup. Their brilliant purple might work. https://www.dickblick.com/products/liquitex-professional-spray-paint/
It take a download even I already got this one. The name was not clear for me this was the same project. I downloaded 28/7 and today 😫
Hi Nancy! The site resets every month and does not store downloads, so we recommend creating a folder on your computer for project downloads. If you downloaded this already, it should be saved to your downloads folder on your computer. We will go ahead and re-credit you one project download this time.
What pinking sheers brand do you use for cutting crepe paper?
Thank you,
Carol
We’ve loved the Fiskars brand, and also these new ones in our shop! https://feltpaperscissors.com/product/pinking-shears-zig-zag/
Are the Tint IT spray similar to the colortool sprays since I can no longer find the Tint IT sprays?
The TintIT sprays are a bit lighter and more sheer (and easier to layer) than the Colortool sprays, but you can use whatever you can find!
I don’t own a Cricut and I need advise on how it can save me time and being a member will I get the PDF’s for all the paper creations here as well as the felt creations.
Which is the best machine that you use Lia and including your team and other members.
I have absolutely no idea?
I do hope you can all help me decide on what and which machine to buy. I only use my iPad am I right in thinking this won’t be used with any Cricut machine. I am very space poor?
Regards from an Aussie on a 5 day lockdown here in Victoria Australia 🇦🇺 the southern most State on the Mainland
Francien Daniels-Webb
Hi Francien! Here is a video where we talk about the machines we recommend. https://liagriffith.com/craft-academy/11-things-to-consider-before-buying-a-cutting-machine/
However, all of our projects come with a PDF pattern, and most with the SVG. If you are thinking about becoming a member, we are offering the crepe paper flower master class again in May. In this 12 part class, I do highly suggest students hand-cut their flowers to get to know the paper. This is a perfect hobby for lockdown. 😉
Is there anything else you can use for if you don’t have mod podge?
You can use white glue, or just skip the mod podge! The leaves will still look great without it.
can you use panpastels aswell if you don’t have the spray ?
Yes of course!
what colour panpastel should I use for the linen crepe paper?
The magenta and the magenta tint would be great replacements for the spray!
Is there a quick way to cut out the petals
You can layer the crepe paper and cut a small stack of paper at a time (with sharp scissors)!
Hi Lia just joined as a member and made the orange branch which I’ve enjoyed making so much 😊I now want to try to make the lilac I’ve watched your video but it only shows how to make the leaf and then it goes onto the tints but nothing about making the actual lilac flower I’ve downloaded the pdf templet I cannot see any instructions either, I’ve looked on you tube also but can’t see it there either can you help me maybe I’m looking in wrong place thanks, Jane kubon
Hi Jane!
We show how to make the flower portion of the lilac from minute 4:30 to minute 23:00 in the video on the project page. 🙂
Good afternoon – Do you have a photo of how you put the centres together? I watched the YouTube video but that’s the only part was had to see! Thanks kindly.
Hi Megan,
We do not have a photo of how to put the centers together but I will do my best to explain. 🙂 Fold the center piece in half against the grain of crepe paper this is shown in the PDF template, fringe on the fold about 3/4 of the way down. Use white glue and wrap folded fringe around the tip of 24 gauge wire, slide petals onto wire using white glue to hold in place and pinch over base of center.
Thank you! I am starting these tomorrow.
Lia, so excited for the the May Member Make!!! I have noticed depending on how your printer is configured the templates come out different sizes. It would be helpful to have size of petals and leaves etc. written on templates. Also is the degree of difficulty making different flowers listed on your website? I love your book. Thank you for sharing all your creativity!!!
Hi Veronica,
We are also very excited for the May Member Make, the hibiscus is such a fun flower! When printing the template be sure you are printing at 100% or “Actual Size”, if you do this the pattern will be the correct size. A lot of our most recent flowers have the difficulty listed in the post, if you are looking for beginner flowers check out our getting started pages.
Some of us have ADD and cannot get through an entire video (hehe) – would be great if you could release text step by step instructions along with video.. (and even better, exact 00:00 time of when you cover that step in the video)
Hi Jennifer,
We will be adding photo tutorials to our member makes beginning with the member make for May! 🙂
This will be my first project from you website, and I am really excited to get started. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find the “Thick Paper-Covered Wire Stems” (called Homework2 Green Floral Stem Wire 18 Gauge Wire 12 inch on the Amazon link, but the item has been unavailable there for quite some time now). These stems seem quite different than anything I have on hand or can find, so any suggestions about how to find them would be very helpful. Thanks so much!
Hi Paula,
We are hoping to get these stems in our shop very soon, in the meantime these stems are very similar but have a thicker wire in the middle. https://www.amazon.com/Bright-Creations-Floral-Flower-Wrapped/dp/B07TND3MN1/ref=pd_sbs_201_24?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07TND3MN1&pd_rd_r=39812d3e-382c-4ec9-83b8-717bbcdcda79&pd_rd_w=q1D0z&pd_rd_wg=k0NYx&pf_rd_p=bdd201df-734f-454e-883c-73b0d8ccd4c3&pf_rd_r=3WVF7Y4Y570GQXA4VWP6&psc=1&refRID=3WVF7Y4Y570GQXA4VWP6
The “TintIT” spray is no longer available at the link and the Pinkalicious is $39 on amazon, do you have an idea for a substitution?
Hi Pam! TintIT spray is also available at createforless.com and walmart.com for much cheaper than amazon! https://www.createforless.com/Design-Master-Tint-It-10-oz.-Pinkolicious/pid243059.aspx
i live in Canada and cant find tint IT at all, even on amazon. is there another spray paint i could try? i have pan pastels so i was thinking of doing that instead.
PS: please make blue crepe paper!!!
Hi Tina,
TintIT is made by Design Master. They have other brands of floral sprays, we would recommend looking for a retailer near you as any of design masters sprays will work on our crepe paper. We have not tried traditional spray paint, only paint made for fresh florals. PanPastels will also work! 🙂
Why don’t you include a photo tutorial for the member make projects? I like to watch the video first then be able to refer to the photo tutorial as needed.
Hi Patricia,
We try to make the live video as detailed as we can for you. We will keep your comment in mind for our future member make projects!
I agree with Patricia, I’m a fast learner and just want the highlights to refer to. I would like to know the dimensions of the stamen strip, no need to use SVG to cut that part. Love your lilacs!
Hi Carolyn,
We have provided a PDF template for this flower where you can find the pattern for the stamen so you can cut by hand 🙂
I’m making these flowers and I ran into something I can’t do ! How do you make the whole But enough to get the pedals on. If I use a needle it’s to small and I’ve tried just looking with the wire. It’s so hard not to tear the pedal. Did you guys do something different ?
We pushed the wire through the petal by twisting it slightly as you push it through… be gentle. If it would help you to make hole first, I would suggest using a Cricut weeding tool or the tip of one side of the detail scissors. You may also fold the petals in half and cut a very small hole in the center of the fold.
You know, I have every Lia Griffith tool, crepe paper, books etc. I am soooo afraid to try these or any flowers, but lilacs are my all time favorite flower. Maybe I can get enough gumption to give these a try! Very beautiful!
Ohh please give this a try! It’s obviously time consuming but once you get to making, there’s a lot of repetition (which we like to think of practicing making perfect 🙂 )
When trying to watch your videos I am unable to bring the
volume up where I can hear it.
I’m sorry, Sue! It must be a setting on your computer or YouTube.
I am a member but on the live sessions I am unable to send comments. It says to create a channel. How to do this? I am on several closed sites and I can comment on those. Why am I not able to comment on Lia’s live video.
That’s controlled by YouTube– you have to follow their instructions to create a channel in order to comment.